Episode 169
Introduction The Yorozuya, Leukocyte King, and Tama reach the Archfiend Tapir's Lair to defeat him and purge the virus from Tama. But with the King and Gintoki continuously butting heads, things might become complicated for our heroes. Plot The Yorozuya, Leukocyte King, and Tama stand on top of a cliff overlooking a foreboding castle. The King reveals that the area was originally Tama's main systems that the virus had turned into their stronghold. The brains and progenitor behind the invasion stays there, named the Archfiend Tapir. They must defeat him to cure Tama since he is the main system of the Tapir. Shinpachi and Kagura notice that there was a far larger, tougher army sitting between them and the castle. Tama suggests formulating a plan to get past the army. An apathetic Gintoki dismisses the army as creations heavily influenced by Tama's Dragon Quest obsession, which also includes the king and states that they should just go down there and fight. The King responds by calling him a fool using Dragon Quest references and offers up an alternate plan, to sneak in. Gintoki mocks him in return, also using Dragon Quest references and it devolves again into an argument about who is leader material. An annoyed Kagura and Shinpachi ask for Tama's help in settling this but her response is to combine the doppelgangers' plans, which involves sneaking in and letting their "useless party member" (Shinpachi) be in constant danger along the way. Tired of the bickering, Kagura decides to make herself a distraction so the rest can sneak into the building. Gintoki next jumps off, telling the others to follow him, but is abruptly landed on by the King, who tells the samurai that only he should lead to save Tama. He is in turn tripped by Gintoki, who refuses to see him as leader material. Then the King trips Gintoki, resulting in the two men violently arguing again. Shinpachi and Tama run up to them and Shinpachi wonders why the two doppelgangers weren't getting along at all. This causes Tama to admit that bringing these two strong people together may have been a mistake. Unfortunately, the army spots them and Shinpachi tries to warn the two warriors of the attackers. Except the two chose to attack each other with data blasts, killing some Tapir warriors and resulting in an accidental merged blast that wipes out the entire army, a part of the Archfiend's Lair, and weakening the party, including Gintoki and the Leukocyte King heavily. The group enters the lair and Shinpachi berates the 'twins' for being idiots and Tama for trying to play off this as part of her plan. The King assures them that the Virus Boss will heal them before their fight but Shinpachi remarks that it won't happen and that there is a chance that they will actually die. The King walks ahead, stating that they should leave if they were afraid to die; he will save Tama himself. Kagura confronts the King about his abrasiveness; they were all trying to protect Tama and were trying to help. But the King reveals that he knew this. Unlike him, they have ties other than Tama to protect, while he himself was created only to guard Tama. He finishes by again asking then to leave and let him take care of this. Yet during his talk, he fell for a treasure chest trap and an exasperated Shinpachi and Kagura help free him, with an equally exasperated Gintoki looking on. With the two alone, Tama reminds Gintoki on how he and the King's personalities were the same; both were incapable of expressing themselves and are antagonistic. She admits that the more she observed Gintoki and gathered data on him, the more the King evolved to become more human than her. She didn't want him to die alone and Gintoki should understand why the King was acting this way. Gintoki realizes the true reason why the doppelgangers were put together, but looks on in shock as Tama's pixel body begins to disintegrate. Tama realizes that the Tapir have reached her back-up systems and she asks Gintoki to fulfill one last request for her. There may be a chance that she can never be restored so she asks that they save the King, one of her important friends, instead of her. After disappearing, Gintoki comments that he can't honor her request, that just like the program, he won't let both his own and her friends die. In the control center, the Tapir general commands his small army to protect the Archfiend, just before they are all killed. Both he and the Boss see the arrival of the Leukocyte King and the Yorozuya. The Archfiend comments that he already has complete control of the robot and there was nothing they can do. The King kills the general and responds that as long as he exists, Tama's systems will still exist. The Archfiend boasts that the King, who have loved and protected the world for so long, won't be able to touch him let alone defeat him, before taking off his mask. The King, Shinpachi and Kagura stand shocked as the enemy reveals itself wearing Tama's face. The program attacks in anger for this perceived trick but is forcibly stopped in his tracks. The Archfiend reiterates that he has complete control of Tama's systems, therefore Tama and he are one and the same. Unfortunately, the Leukocyte King's body recognizes the enemy as its master and so refuses to fight him. To make matters worse, defeating the Archfiend will also destroy Tama. The Archfiend gleefully mocks the king for his failure and laughs. ...That is until Gintoki kicks her in the face with Shinpachi, Kagura, and the King looking on dumbfounded. Characters * Kagura * Shimura Shinpachi * Sakata Gintoki * Tama * Leukocyte King * Hiraga Gengai (cameo) * Archfiend Tapir Trivia Category:Episodes